Bryan Rust’s signing was good for business, especially if your business is giving the Pittsburgh Penguins a chance to keep their aging team together for another season.
Maybe even two.
The Rust contract is a team-friendly deal that gives the franchise a shot at re-signing potential unrestricted free agents Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, although it is still heavily dependent on how much term they will demand.
Rust signed a front-loaded six-year deal averaging $5.125 million. When the dealing was done, the Penguins had 15 players signed and just under $24 million available cap space remaining.
The Penguins don't yet have an appetite for rebuilding.
Clearly, the Penguins want to keep both Malkin and Letang. However, the speculation has been that it will be easier to land Malkin than Letang.
Letang ($7.25 million) has been making less than Malkin ($9.5 million) and Sidney Crosby ($8.7 million). He was the sixth-leading scorer among defensemen.
Therefore, the general consensus is he might want to test the market to see what he can get instead of giving Pittsburgh a hometown discount.
However, Letang certainly hasn’t said anything like this.
The issue for both of these players could be that they can probably receive a richer deal if they go elsewhere.
For example, if the Boston Bruins lose Patrice Bergeron to retirement, would they be willing to give Malkin a three-year deal? Malkin, 35, is actually a year younger than Bergeron.
Several teams are looking for an impact defenseman like Letang.
If the Penguins manage to persuade both players to stay, it will likely cost them more than half of their remaining cap space, no matter how many years they give them.
That would severely limit the Penguins ability to sign other players. Potential RFA Rickard Rakell seems interested in staying and he fits well with the Penguins. He was making $2.4 million and will be looking for a significant raise. Danton Heinen was a valuable player for them and he needs a raise as a restricted free agent. Evan Rodrigues is impressively valuable when the Penguins have injuries. They’d probably like to keep him, but he also will need a raise.
They must re-sign Kasperi Kapanen if they want to keep him. If they want to add to their available cap space, cue up the Kapanen and Jason Zucker trade rumors.
If Letang leaves, they will need another veteran defenseman. They also need a backup goalie because Casey DeSmith is a potential UFA.
Do you buy the goalie Marc-Andre Fleury-to-Pittsburgh rumor? That simply may be speculation based on Fleury still having many friends in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins must concern themselves with giving themselves some cap space moving forward because No. 1 goalie Tristan Jarry will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Rust gave the Penguins a break by signing that contract. The speculation was that he would have received a deal in the $6.5 million range if he went to the open market. He liked playing in Pittsburgh, where he had the chance to play with elite players. He was willing to leave dollars for that opportunity.
But not everyone is willing to do that.